Friday, August 7, 2009

After Charles Nelson Reilly passed away, I don't think anybody could have imagined that one day his life would be the stuff of legend, making him a 20th Century Paul Bunyan.

Except Weird Al.

The JibJab lads provided the animation for "CNR", and it's probably their best effort yet. (At least this time it's associated with a song that actually has proper rhymes!)

Best part for me? The cameo appearance by the late Gene Rayburn. Giddyap, Gene!

Official members of the JibJab fan bas e can insert their faces into the video and be part of the mayhem - meaning they could have Charles Nelson Reilly throw them down the stairs, whack them in the face with a coal shovel, blow up their heads with his laser eyes, or rip their beating hearts out and show it to them before they die.

The reason I post it here is because the first (allegedly) human you see in the report is Brother Iddiot Brian-El as he flippers his way to a loss on the 'Twilight Zone' game......"Uncle Brian" is a regular pinball wizard, except he isn't deaf, and he isn't blind.

After the sea change in society and culture during "The Summer Of Love", it's hard to believe that a network suit would okay 'Custer' as a new series. But the Western may have already been in the pipeline by that point and it was too late to cancel it.

Thursday, August 6, 2009

The truly great TV shows are always going to be a source for Zonks (those pop culture references to other TV shows when both series should be sharing the same universe). And 'Buffy The Vampire Slayer' is already accorded the status of legendary classic. Even 'Jeopardy' mentioned the character in a "Vampire Slayers" category!It would be okay if the references weren't so damn specific. That way we could always claim the reference was to just the movie. And we could say that the movie was based on the exploits of the "real" person. It's a claim that works for the movie versions of 'Doctor Who' (with Peter Cushing), and for movies like "Starsky & Hutch", "The Brady Bunch", etc. whenever they get referenced.

The only problem with the "Buffy" movie is that it came out first, five years before the series. We'd probably have to rejigger the Toobworld timeline to make it a more recent movie, since the TV show didn't even start until 1997 - how could a movie be based on her exploits be made before she actually started making a name for herself as a vampire slayer?

Most of the references to Buffy take it for granted that the audience knows who she is. Therefore we can claim that they're talking about the real Buffy Summers and not about the fictional character.Here are the examples provided at the IMDb.com:

"Charmed: The Power of Two (#1.20)" (1999) - In response to Prue's comment about zombies and vampires in the cemetery.

"Farscape: Look at the Princess: Part 1: A Kiss Is But a Kiss (#2.11)" (2000)- Crichton mentions Buffy the Vampire Slayer as people who will be dead after he's been turned into a statue for 80 years.

"Grosse Pointe: Halloween (#1.5)" (2000)- Hunter: "The only thing scary about me is that I look some cheesy Buffy rip-off."

"Charmed: Cheaper by the Coven (#7.3)" (2004)- When the Seer (Charisma Carpenter) encounters Leo (Brian Krause) for the first time, she calls Leo's actions un-Scooby-like. It's a reference to Charisma's previous series, "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" (1997). Buffy's group called themselves the Scoobys

"True Blood: Keep This Party Going (#2.2)" (2009)- Jason is confronted on acting like a Muslim Buffy with a dick.

But then there are those references where there is no choice but to accept it as a Zonk:

"Eureka: Primal (#1.9)" (2006)- Fargo mentions Buffy fan websites. Later the monsters explode into dust like Buffy's vampires.(Okay, maybe there could be fan sites about the "real" Buffy; it would depend on how Fargo described them....)

"Will & Grace: Love Plus One (#3.6)" (2000)- Jack says, "Buffy is my life. I am so into Willow being a lez!"

"Spaced: Dissolution (#2.6)" (2001)- Tim talks about a girl and says "She's like Cordelia out of Buffy the Vampire Slayer""Just Shoot Me!: At Long Last Allie (#5.22)" (2001)- Allie and Dennis watched it together over the phone.

"Six Feet Under: Crossroads (#1.8)" (2001)- Claire sarcasticaly asks 'Do you think Sandra Bullock will play her in the movie?' And Topher responds with 'She can't get that good. Probably someone from Buffy or Dawson's Creek.'

"The Twilight Zone: The Collection (#1.38)" (2003)- Danielle says that she used to watch this show with Jenny, who wanted Spike and Buffy to hook up

"Big Wolf on Campus: The Manchurian Werewolf (#2.13)" (2000)- Merton and Dean discuss the show

"Big Wolf on Campus: Fangs for the Memories (#1.15)" (1999)- Merton mentions Buffy the Vampire Slayer.I bring this up because over the weekend, John Popper (playing himself on an episode of 'Z Rock') mentioned that the band's manager loved the movie but hated the TV series (which just shows to go ya that Dina Molinsky has no artistic sense whatsoever.) Had it ended with him saying that Dina loved the movie, we could have been in the clear. This was one case of a pop culture reference going on far too long.....

Four hundred years ago on the island that would come to be known as Manhattan, a Lenape shaman created the talismans to summon the powers of rock, wind, fire, and water and left them hidden away in a cave with the hopes the right man would come along to wield those powers wisely. (This was depicted in the opening scenes of "Elementals", this week's episode of 'Warehouse 13'.) So this took place approximately in the year 1609, about two years after a Lenape shamaness granted a great and terrible gift to the young Dutch soldier who rescued her - immortal life. (We learned this during the first episode of 'New Amsterdam'.)

The Lenape would be the general name for their people. I wrote about them here at Inner Toob when 'New Amsterdam' was just beginning.....

As these Indians lived on the lower end of Manhattan, and since magic is usually hereditary, I'd have to say that both of these two characters - in the grand scheme of all that is Toobworld - were probably related. They could even have been brother and sister.

One thing I've always liked about Toobworld is how it idealizes real life. H. Ross Perot looks like Richard Crenna? Ryan White's mom looks like Judith Light? Traitor Robert Hanssen looks like William Hurt? Frank Caliendo as Bill Clinton? Okay, maybe not that one.....

One of the earliest examples of this would be Bill Williams as Kit Carson back in the 1950's. Here's what the real Kit Carson looked like:

And here's Bill Williams in the role:

CHRISTOPHER HOUSTON "KIT" CARSON

AS SEEN IN:'The Adventures Of Kit Carson'

AS PLAYED BY:Bill Williams Williams played the role for four years on the series and in one episode of 'The Red Skelton Show' as well. For thousands of kids growing up during that time, he probably was Kit Carson. But he's a far cry from the original! In fact, he looks more like he should be performing with the Sons of the Pioneers....... BCnU!

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Just received the second season of 'Kingdom', the series about a solicitor named Peter Kingdom (Stephen Fry) in the quirky village of Market Shipborough, Norfolk, UK. This is going right into the DVD duffel for taking on vacation!

Oddly enough, the first season wasn't available at Amazon.com, but as I just finished watching it on WLIW-21, I'm good for now. But this is definitely one series I want in my collection - I'm a big fan of quirky small towns in TV! And of Stephen Fry as well.....

Also got the latest graphic novel for Alan Moore's "The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen" - "Century 1910". This can't wait for vacation; it's going with me to work tonight for reading on the subway!

When Ben needed protection for his fight against a demon during one of the last episodes of 'Reaper', Sock offered to make him a suit of armor out of the old Wrenchie Bench mascot costume.

"We shal rebuild it, Benjamin" said Sock. "We have all the technology right at our fingertips. We can make it better. We shall make it better than it was before - Faster, stronger, demon-proofier."

Now that's the kind of TV reference I like. The writer of this episode trusted the audience enough to understand Sock was mocking the classic Oscar Goldman line from the opening theme of 'The Six Million Dollar Man'. There was no need for him (or her?) to beat us over the head with explanations of where it came from, as is sadly too prevalent in TV references today.

But aside from trusting the audience, it also remained Zonk-free. With no other mention of Colonel Steve Austin and his 1970's TV show, we can look upon the quote as just being the type of thing Bert Wysocki would say within the reality of Toobworld.

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

For the first week of August, as has been the custom this year, is a member of the League of Themselves - those real life people who appear as themselves in fictional settings on television.

And this month that "honoree" is the Divine Miss M: Bette Midler.Not only does she have at least the required three appearances in different programs, but one of them was in the Tooniverse, when she appeared on 'The Simpsons' episode "Krusty Gets Cancelled". And like Jerry Seinfeld and Charles Farrell before her, Bette Midler starred in her own sitcom as a fictionalized version of herself.

However, in Toobworld, Bette's husband was a guy named Roy, whereas she was married to Martin von Haselberg of the weird act called "The Kipper Kids". They have a daughter named Sophie - but in Toobworld, their daughter is named Rose (a la the movie she made in the real world?)It's her marriage in this short-lived sitcom (although it debuted to high ratings, it quickly lost favor and didn't last the season) that makes her an interesting member of the League of Themselves. Not only did she have a different family than she does in the Trueniverse, but her husband Roy became a recastaway: in the last episode, Kevin Dunn was replaced by Robert Hayes as Roy.And ye old Caretaker of Toobworld has a splainin for that change in his appearance - alien abduction and replacement. Whether they were from the same race or not, the aliens had the 'Starman' step in to replace Roy. Even though we could see him as "Paul Forrester" the 'Starman', Bette saw him as her husband, the original Roy.It was probably part of an ongoing experiment, as their daughter Rose was replaced as well. (In the pilot she was played by Lindsay Lohan; in the series by Marina Malota.)

Maybe the aliens were planning to eventually steal away Midler as well - their planet was probably dying for some high camp entertainment.....

If so, this is the type of thing their home world could expect:

We can also claim that Bette Midler has a spiritually numerical connection to 'Lost' as well. Just check out the jersey she wore in the 'Seinfeld' episode "The Understudy":Speaking of which, here's a clip from that, in which Bette Midler appeared as herself:

We've also got a clip from "Jackie's Back" about Bette's recollections of her first meeting with Jackie:

And from that TV dimension in which Germany won World War II and so everybody in the world was forced to speak German thereafter, here's what happened when Bette Midler and Frau Fran Fine feuded during an auction.....

Here is the tally for Bette Midler's appearances as herself in a fictional context:Bette" (18 episodes, 2000-2001)

Jackie's Back! (1999)

"The Nanny"- You Bette Your Life (1997) "Seinfeld"- The Understudy (1995)

THE TOONIVERSE"The Simpsons"- Krusty Gets Kancelled (1993)

As to why Bette Midler was chosen for August? After all, she could have qualified for the theme of May Queen as well.

It all comes down to a very poor joke on my part, referring to an anecdote about the time she worked with Ken Wahl on a movie, and the fact that this is August....

Out of those last 'Reaper' episodes, we were also able to find a prop link to at least two other shows: Oaties cereal - the Toobworld cousin to Wheaties and part of a complete breakfast.

Although I haven't seen it myself personally, it's been reported that Oaties can also be found in '7th Heaven' and in 'Full House' (although Oat Boats seems to have been the cereal of choice in the Tanner household).

Still, trivial as it may seem, Oaties cereal would thus be eligible for inclusion in the TV Crossover Hall of Fame one day.....

Two new arrival for the Toobworld Library, and one of them is home-made!

Brian-El, a member of the Idiot's Delight Digest (and probably from Krypton), mailed me a burned copy of the 'Mary Tyler Moore Show' reunion that was held on Oprah's talk show. Oprah went all out with recreations of the WJM office and of Mary's first apartment in Minneapolis.

Thanks, Uncle Brian!

Amazon had a one-day deal - the four seasons of 'Futurama' altogether for under 50 bucks. I couldn't pass that one up!

I finally finished the last three episodes of 'Reaper' Saturday. And although it didn't really end on a cliff-hanger, the finale felt like the creative team expected to get another season for the show. That's not going to happen, but at least we were left with the feeling there was hope for Sam to not only get out of his deal with the Devil, but also to rescue Andi's soul as well.

That will be left up to the Fates in Toobworld... maybe to intrepid 'Reaper' fanficcers out there. In the meantime, there was at least one last definite link to the TV Universe for the show......

Mary Pat, a new greeter at the Work Bench, was a smoker. And her cancer sticks of choice? Morley's, the brand most TV characters ask for by name! Other shows that had the Morley brand:

For this "Two For Tuesday" edition of the "As Seen On TV" showcase, during our annual summer celebration of the TV Western, we have one of the most colorful characters to be found west of the Pecos.....

JUDGE ROY BEAN

AS SEEN IN:"The Streets Of Laredo"

AS PLAYED BY:Ned Beatty

Eventually Judge Roy Bean will be inducted into the TV Crossover Hall of Fame during the summer months. The reason he's not going in this year is because of the tenth anniversary of the Hall. With a new inductee going in every week, it might have diminished the over-sized legend of the man. And when he does go in, he'll go in looking like Edgar Buchanan. AS SEEN IN:'Judge Roy Bean'

AS PLAYED BY:Edgar Buchanan

But it's always nice to feature a Ned Beatty character here at Toobworld Central, so I'll take the opportunity when I can! BCnU!

Monday, August 3, 2009

If you've got access to "Google Street View", you can use it to get inside the alternate dimension of Earth Prime-Time!

So far, you can't travel down the main street of Cicely, Alaska, looking for their moose; and you can't use it to check out the water tower in Hooterville in search of the Bradley girls. But the producers for one of Great Britain's most popular soap operas have allowed the Google Street View car to rumble along 'Coronation Street'. It's all in connection to the re-launch of the show's website, so I'm not sure how long the access will last.....

In the episode "It's Not Easy Being Green", Global Dynamics needed 'Eureka' sheriff Jack Carter to collect all the samples of globinium (a safe alternative to plutonium) in town. Tess Fontana teased him by saying that he could rely on his easy-going Andy Griffith charm to get those people to give up their samples.

No Zonk here to be deactivated! There's no mention of any of Griffith's TV shows, but we all know which one she meant. I mean, Carter's a small-town sheriff like Andy Taylor; I don't think he's going to be confused with a Southern lawyer or a private school's headmaster.

Luckily for the integrity of the Toobworld structure, we're in the Trueniverse; within the reality of Earth Prime-Time, Tess was just referring to Andy Griffith's charm as a comic story-teller - the guy known for such stories as "What It Was, Was Football".

Just An Old Cowhand On The TiVo Grande

As the Trickster once said, "Reality is boring, that's why I change it whenever I can."
I'm just "The Man Who Viewed Too Much", and "Inner Toob" is a blog exploring and celebrating the 'reality' of an alternate universe in which everything that ever happened on TV actually takes place.
Most of my theories about the TV Universe come from thinking inside the box and thus can't be proven. But I've never been one to shy away from a tall tale.....
Remember: "The more you watch, the more you've seen!"